Arena Profile: Ed Espinoza

Ed Espinoza is a political consultant providing services in campaign management, traditional and online communications, and vote-by-mail programs. He has worked in politics since 1992.

From 2009-2011, he served Western States Political Director at the Democratic National Committee, where he was responsible for Latino get-out-the-vote efforts for Nevada Senator Harry Reid’s 2010 re-election, and wrote the DNC’s Latino outreach program supporting Michael Bennet for Senate in Colorado. In 2008, he was a Superdelegate for Barack Obama.

With a professional background in public relations, he has worked for Fleishman-Hillard and Golin/Harris communications, providing strategic counsel in branding, issue management and rapid response. Past clients include Aston Martin Motor Cars, Genworth Financial, Nintendo of America and Sony Computer Entertainment of America.

Originally from Long Beach, California, Ed conducted his undergraduate studies in political science at UCLA and studied marketing at the London School of Economics. He has written for Politico and provides political analysis for cable news broadcasts.

Ed Espinoza's Recent Discussions

Congressional skinny dipping in Israel?

Last week a Gallup poll showed the Republican Congress with a 10 percent approval rating. No, I don't think this incident is going to affect the public's impression of the GOP Congress. At this point, it seems there isn't much that can.

And that 10 percent rating is the lowest in 38 years, tied only by a survey from last February! Similarly, last week a Public Policy Polling survey showed 60 percent of voters think that "this is the worst Congress ever."

It is entirely possible that someone told these guys to "go jump in a lake." And, as many hard line conservatives do, they took the interpretation literally.

These aren't two men cut from the same cloth, and they don't seem to have the opposite qualities that really compliment each other. It's hard to envision them being of the same mind while collaborating on policy. And while Paul Ryan has a good deal of congressional experience, he also has a fair amount of baggage: his budget proposals have suggested taking a sharp knife to social security and Medicare.

Still, the selection of Ryan is an interesting choice. And keeps in line with the Republican tradition of choosing a predictable presidential nominee, followed by an unpredictable choice for a VP nominee.

What makes a good Veep? If this were a movie, we would want more of a buddy flick than an historical drama. We can ponder the electoral math all day, but a successful ticket really comes down to one thing: teamwork.

Mitt Romney will certainly have to consider politics in selecting his running mate, but in the end he should go with someone he is personally comfortable with. He needs to go with his gut. Who fits his personality best? It's hard to say since we're still not sure which Mitt will show up in the general (Romney 1994 or Romney 2012?). But let's rule two people out right away: Gov. Chris Christie and Gov. Bobby Jindal. As the famous line from the movie Pulp Fiction goes, "personality goes a long way." Gov. Christie's boisterous personality does not make for reliable lieutenant material. And while Gov. Jindal is popular in Republican circles, his quirky personality may not mesh well with Romney or the campaign.

Because while some pundits opine on which candidates bring which states to the table, or who pulls in which constituency, none of that matters if the running mate doesn't mesh well with the presidential nominee. In fact, in looking at nominees of the past 20 years - all of the successful presidential tickets have been composed of teams with seemingly little electoral impact. The Bill Clinton and Al Gore ticket pulled two men from the same region with nearly identical political profiles. George W. Bush selected Dick Cheney, a hold over from his father's administration, and who pulled a whopping three electoral votes from the dark red state of Wyoming. Similarly, Barack Obama's selection of Joe Biden pulled in three votes from a dark blue state. But the one thing all of these tickets had in common was a genuinely strong relationship between the men on the ticket - they complimented each other in personality, policy, and politics - and it showed. Voters knew that these were pairings built for teamwork.

In contrast, look at some of the failed tickets of the past 20 years, most notably Gore/Lieberman and McCain/Palin. Both looked great on paper - first Jewish nominee! First female nominee! Both were historic in their selections. But both were also awkward pairings with the top of the ticket, mired by differing political views and, in the case of McCain/Palin, hamstrung by competing political agendas.

For Romney, he'll be wise to pick someone that he relates to, and someone that he trusts.

While Republicans have been more successful in electing Latinos to statewide office, they have not necessarily dominated in candidate recruitment within the Latino community. And with an average vote share that hovers well below the 40th percentile, Republicans certainly haven't been able to win over Latino voters.

Because with the exception of Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, all of the other Republican statewide Latino office holders started off as candidates who challenged the political establishment and went against better-known primary opponents. In the case of Ted Cruz from Texas, he ran against an entrenched Party-favorite in Lt. Governor David Dewhurst. Marco Rubio ran against then-sitting Florida Republican Governor Charlie Crist (though once Rubio found his footing, Crist was compelled to run as an independent), and New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez had to work her way through a crowded five-way primary.

My point is not to take away the success of these Latino officials - but to point out that the initial Republican support for these individuals was scant and eventually offered by default.

Democrats run stronger in fielding Latino candidates for local office, largely due to strong grassroots organizing at the local level. Many of these elected officials are working their way through the ranks of public service and are mentioned as candidates for Governor in the near future. Officials such as Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro. The National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO), though a non-partisan group, is a group that is largely from the Democratic Party.

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